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Article FREEMASONRY IN 1888. ← Page 5 of 5 Article FREEMASONRY IN 1888. Page 5 of 5
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In 1888.
have said , generally prosperous , there have been some serious losses to deplore , the loss by death of Bro . the Earl of Mar and Kellie , Past G . M ., being the most conspicuous , while hardly less important is that caused more recently by the death of Bro . Sir William Pearce , Bart ., M . P ., Prov . G . M . of Glasgow , which may be looked upon as nearly , if not quite , the most important of the provinces under the Grand Lodge of Scotland . There have also died Bro . Alexander Hay , who was a most able and
influential member of the Fraternity in Edinburgh , and Bro . Caldwell , a member of the Board of Grand Stewards , and one of the foremost and most active brethren in the Scottish branch of the Craft in New Zealand . On the whole , however , our Scottish brethren have had much to rejoice over during the year , and we sincerely trust they may never find themselves less prosperous than now . IRELAND .
We cannot say that we have been able to overcome the reticence of our Irish brethren , who still appear to think the non-Masonic press a more becoming channel for communicating news of our Craft doings than the recognised organs of our Society . The most important event we have to record is the annual distribution of prizes to the pupils of the Masonic Orphan Schools , Dublin , which , with the usual attendant fete , took place in the
Leinster Hall , on the 12 th May , his Grace the Duke of Abercorn , Grand Master , occupying the chair of President on the occasion , while the prizes were distributed by the Duchess of Abercorn . The evening previous to this annual event was also made memorable by a grand ball , which was given by Lodge 25 , Dublin , and took place in the same hall , there being a very numerous and fashionable gathering present , conspicuous
among whom where the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn . We are also in a position to mention that two new Masonic halls have been dedicated during the year , one of them , which is located at Gilford , County Down , hav ing been dedicated by Major Leslie Thompson , assisted by the Provincial Grand Officers of Down , on the 12 th June , and the other , which is situated at Derriaghey , near Milltown , by Bro . Thomas Valentine , Deputy
Grand Master of Antrim , who was also loyally assisted by the Prov . G . Officers and supported by the brethren . Unfortunately , among the limited news we have been permitted to furnish must be included the mournful intelligence of the deaths , in June last , of two among the more prominent members of the Irish Fraternity , namely , Bro . Col . King-Harman , M . P ., Prov . G . Master of Meath , who , as the representative in the
House of Commons of an English Constituency , and as a member of the present Government , was well known and respected here ; and Bro . S . B . Oldham , Dep . G . Secretary and Treasurer of the G . Lodge of Ireland , who , from his long and meritorious connection with the Craft in Ireland , as well as from the invariable courtesy with which he performed his official
duties and the readiness he exhibited at all times to furnish information to our authorities , was also well known and greatly respected in English Masonic circles . These are undoubtedly grievous losses , and all will sympathise with the brethren of Ireland , on whom they press so nearly and with such grave severity .
OUR COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES . The lodges and brethren in our Colonies and possessions abroad , whether affiliated to the Grand Lodges of the Old Country or existing under separate Constitutions of their own , have participated largely in the good fortune which has befallen the Fraternity in the British Empire . The relations presently existing between ourselves and one or more of the
independent Grand Bodies in the Dominion of Canada continue to exhibit , as they have done for some time , a ceitain degree of tension , but in time , no doubt , the differences which have arisen will be healed , and that perfect harmony will prevail without which Freemasonry is little else than a delusion and a snare . There is the same condition of non-intercourse between the Grand Lodges of Quebec and England as we had to record last year , and
the Grand Chapter of Canada has been setting at defiance the laws of interjurisdictional courtesy and good feeling , to say nothing of the unwritten law of usage which has hitherto prevailed in matters of this kind , by setting up Royal Arch Chapters in the City of Melbourne in the midst of our English , Irish , and Scotch Chapters , while the two Great Priories of England and Canada are at loggerheads because the latter insists on maintaining a
similarly illegal position in the same City of Melbourne , with certain of its newly-warranted preceptories . In India the Craft has been able to pursue the even tenour of its way with credit to itself and the Fraternity at large , nor have we much else to record than that the lodges and Charitable Associations in the several Presidencies or District G . Lodges have strengthened or maintained their position . A few changes have taken
place . Comp . E . Woodall Parker has been installed Superintendent of R . A . Masonry in the Punjab , and in the month of November Bro . Lord Connemara , Governor of Madras , was installed Dist . G . Master of that Presidency . Elsewhere we note that Bro . Sir H . A . Atkinson , K . C . M . G ,, was installed Dist . G . Master of Wellington ( N . Z . ) , Bro . Col . Marmaduke Ramsay , District Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of Malta ,
and Bro . George J . Ryan , M . D , Dist . G . M . of the Argentine Republic , vice Bro . Rich . D . Masefield , deceased , while on the resignation of Bro . John Williame as Dist . G . M . of New South Wales , Bro . Lord Carrington , Past S . G . Warden , was appointed his successor . But the occurrences which are fraught with the greatest importance to the Craft are those which have taken place in the vast and wealthy colonies of New South Wales and
Victoria . Among the brethren of these districts there had prevailed for some time past a most lamentable state of disunion , but in the course of his recent visit to Australasia , Bro . the Earl of Carnarvon , Pro G . Master , made it his special business to inquire into the reasons of this untoward state , and if possible furnish a remedy for it . His efforts happily proved successful , and during the present summer the principal members of the
disunited Craft in New South Wales held several consultations together , the result being the establishment of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales , which was formally constituted at Sydney on the 18 th August , and of which Bro . Lord Carrington , Governor-General of the Colony , and a P . S . G . W . of England , was installed M . W . G . Master , in the presence of over 4000 brethren assembled in one of the most capacious of the public buildings in Sydney , on the 18 th September . The Prince of
Wales has since accepted the office of Grand Patron , the new G . Lodge having been first recognised by our G . Lodge on his Royal Highness ' s recommendation , and , as there are over 180 lodges already on its roll , there is every chance of its enjoying a prosperous future . Similar steps have been taken by the members of the English , Irish , Scotch , and Victorian Constitutions , with a view to establishing a United Grand Lodge of Victoria , which , if constituted , will start on its career with some 150 lodges on its roll , and in all probability with Bro . Sir W . J . Clarke , Bart ., who is
Freemasonry In 1888.
already chief of the District and Provincial Grand Lodges of England , Scotland , and Ireland , as its first Grand Master . It would be ridiculous to regard these changes as involving any loss of strength or prestige to the Grand Lodges ol the United Kingdom , and it only remains for us to repeat the kind wishes for their future wellbeing which we have before expressed . The old tie of Brotherhood
will remain , though the governments will no longer be the same . We will add that the Grand Lodge of South Australia , of which the Prince of Wales is G . Patron , has prospered greatly under the auspices of Bro . Chief Justice Way , who , by the way , had the honour of installing Bro . Lord Carrington as Grand Master of New South Wales , and that its Grand Chapter has been formally recognised by us . As for the Grand Lodges
in the Dominion of Canada , that of Canada for the Province of Ontario is in an extremely flourishing condition , and has on its roll some 19 , 000 members , the Grand Master for the current year being Bro . R . T . VValkem , while its G . Chapter , of which Comp . R . B . Hungerford is G . Z ., has also made considerable progress . The other Grand
Lodgesthose of Quebec , Nova Scotia , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island , Manitoba , and British Columbia—have also fared well , all having maintained , while some have improved , their position , as compared with what it was in 1887 . To them , also , we offer our congratulations on the past , as well as our sincerest wishes for their future prosperity .
J URISDICTIONS ABROAD . The most untoward events which have happened outside the Fraternity in the British Empire are undoubtedly the deaths , within about three months of each other , of the Emperors William and Frederick of Germany , who had both of them been members of our Society for many years , the elder of the two having been initiated in Berlin in 1840 , and the younger in 1853 .
Both these illustrious personages took a deep interest in the welfare of Freemasonry , not alone as official protectors of the Craft in Germany , but also because they truly and sincerel y believed in the beneficial influence it is calculated to exercise on mankind at large . We have already referred to the addresses of sympathy which our own illustrious Grand Master transmitted , as the official head of English Masonry , to the sorrowing relatives of
these august monarchs , and we are confident those expressions of our regret will have been fully appreciated by the various G . Lodges in Germany . What effect these losses may have on the future of German Freemasonry cannot be judged at present . The reigning Emperor William II . is not a Freemason , and it has pleased the anti-Masonic portion of the German press to assert , without as far as we have been able to ascertain the slightest warranty for the faith that is in them , that henceforth the Craft in the German
Fatherland will be held in disrepute in Court and official circles , which , as society is there constituted , means that it will be virtually deprived of its opportunities of exercising any influence whatever . We do not share in this belief , firstly , because it has found expression only in that portion of the press which has always shown itself antagonistic to Freemasonry ; and , secondly , because there is no sufficient reason why William II . should go out of his way to injure a Society which had enjoyed the confidence ot both his aged grandfather and father successively for the greater part of half a century .
As regards Freemasonry in other jurisdictions , tnough there is scarcely a State in the world which is not directly or indirectly indebted to this country for what knowledge of our principles and what of Craft organisation it possesses , we shall no doubt be forgiven if the greater share of our interest is diiected towards the Grand Lodges in the United States , which , as they once formed part of the British Empire , were also included in our
British system of Freemasonry . The oldest and most influential among the Grand Lodges of the United States were formerly among our Provincial lodges , and a continuance of their prosperity is almost as much an object of solicitude with us as is that of our otvn . At all events , we look with interest to what is passing among the Fraternity in New York , Pennsylvania , Massachusetts , Vermont , Maryland , and the other States and
territories which acknowledge the Stars and Stripes just in the same way as they look to what is passing here . We endeavour to cultivate their good opinion as they do ours , and both we and they are always prepared to welcome whatever is likely to draw closer and make firmer the bonds of fraternal respect and friendship which actuate the members of the two great sections of Anglo-Saxon Masonry . If proof positive of this is needed , we
had it in 1887 , when many distinguished United States brethren came over to this country and were heartily greeted by our lodges and members , while during the current year we have had , as it were , the counterpart of the picture in the kind reception experienced by the Anglo-American Lodge Deputation in Philadelphia , Baltimore , and New York , and wherever else they visited . These are among the latest instances of
the friendly interchanges which are continually passing between the brethren on the opposite shores of the Atlantic , and we regret that owing to time and space at our disposal we are unable to say more of the relations existing between them , or give anything like a worthy narrative ot Craft proceedings in America . But though we are compelled to deny our readers the pleasure of attempting any such record , we should but ill discharge
our duty as the representative organ of British Masonic opinion if we did not conclude this brief reference to our United States brethren by expressing our sincerest wishes both for their increased prosperity and for the continuance through all time of those friendly relations and that warm respect which have always prevailed between us and them . May peace and harmony for ever reign between the brethren ot the United States and the United Kingdom !
KNIGHT . —It is very difficult to lay down any proper derivation of Ihis word , though some have contended that it comes from the Anglo-Saxon Cneht or Cnecht . It seems , however , very doubtful , as the German word Ritter , originally Reiter , preserves the older idea of Eques and Chivaler , Chevalier . We need not go through the details of the creation or uses of the knightly order or of the system ot knightnood in itself , as such lucubra « tions seem almost out of place in a Masonic Cyclopaedia , and there is no
difficulty in finding the whole tacts of the case clearly set forth in more than one masterly treatise on the subject . Without , then , entering on tnis wide and important subject , it will suffice to say that there were two kinds of knights principally—the Knight Bachelor and the Knight Banneret . In former days the honour ot kni ghthood was conlerred by the sovereign or some military commander on the field of battle , and sometimes under the banners . —Kenning ' s Cyclopcedia of Freemasonry ,
BERKELEY HOTEL ( late St . James ' s ) , 1 , Berkeley-street and 77 , Picca « dilly , London , W . First class accommodation for residents , with a Resta irant newly * Attached for high class luncheons and dinners , at fixed pcias and a la 1 cartes C . DIETTE , Manager . — - [ ADVT . ] '
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In 1888.
have said , generally prosperous , there have been some serious losses to deplore , the loss by death of Bro . the Earl of Mar and Kellie , Past G . M ., being the most conspicuous , while hardly less important is that caused more recently by the death of Bro . Sir William Pearce , Bart ., M . P ., Prov . G . M . of Glasgow , which may be looked upon as nearly , if not quite , the most important of the provinces under the Grand Lodge of Scotland . There have also died Bro . Alexander Hay , who was a most able and
influential member of the Fraternity in Edinburgh , and Bro . Caldwell , a member of the Board of Grand Stewards , and one of the foremost and most active brethren in the Scottish branch of the Craft in New Zealand . On the whole , however , our Scottish brethren have had much to rejoice over during the year , and we sincerely trust they may never find themselves less prosperous than now . IRELAND .
We cannot say that we have been able to overcome the reticence of our Irish brethren , who still appear to think the non-Masonic press a more becoming channel for communicating news of our Craft doings than the recognised organs of our Society . The most important event we have to record is the annual distribution of prizes to the pupils of the Masonic Orphan Schools , Dublin , which , with the usual attendant fete , took place in the
Leinster Hall , on the 12 th May , his Grace the Duke of Abercorn , Grand Master , occupying the chair of President on the occasion , while the prizes were distributed by the Duchess of Abercorn . The evening previous to this annual event was also made memorable by a grand ball , which was given by Lodge 25 , Dublin , and took place in the same hall , there being a very numerous and fashionable gathering present , conspicuous
among whom where the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn . We are also in a position to mention that two new Masonic halls have been dedicated during the year , one of them , which is located at Gilford , County Down , hav ing been dedicated by Major Leslie Thompson , assisted by the Provincial Grand Officers of Down , on the 12 th June , and the other , which is situated at Derriaghey , near Milltown , by Bro . Thomas Valentine , Deputy
Grand Master of Antrim , who was also loyally assisted by the Prov . G . Officers and supported by the brethren . Unfortunately , among the limited news we have been permitted to furnish must be included the mournful intelligence of the deaths , in June last , of two among the more prominent members of the Irish Fraternity , namely , Bro . Col . King-Harman , M . P ., Prov . G . Master of Meath , who , as the representative in the
House of Commons of an English Constituency , and as a member of the present Government , was well known and respected here ; and Bro . S . B . Oldham , Dep . G . Secretary and Treasurer of the G . Lodge of Ireland , who , from his long and meritorious connection with the Craft in Ireland , as well as from the invariable courtesy with which he performed his official
duties and the readiness he exhibited at all times to furnish information to our authorities , was also well known and greatly respected in English Masonic circles . These are undoubtedly grievous losses , and all will sympathise with the brethren of Ireland , on whom they press so nearly and with such grave severity .
OUR COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES . The lodges and brethren in our Colonies and possessions abroad , whether affiliated to the Grand Lodges of the Old Country or existing under separate Constitutions of their own , have participated largely in the good fortune which has befallen the Fraternity in the British Empire . The relations presently existing between ourselves and one or more of the
independent Grand Bodies in the Dominion of Canada continue to exhibit , as they have done for some time , a ceitain degree of tension , but in time , no doubt , the differences which have arisen will be healed , and that perfect harmony will prevail without which Freemasonry is little else than a delusion and a snare . There is the same condition of non-intercourse between the Grand Lodges of Quebec and England as we had to record last year , and
the Grand Chapter of Canada has been setting at defiance the laws of interjurisdictional courtesy and good feeling , to say nothing of the unwritten law of usage which has hitherto prevailed in matters of this kind , by setting up Royal Arch Chapters in the City of Melbourne in the midst of our English , Irish , and Scotch Chapters , while the two Great Priories of England and Canada are at loggerheads because the latter insists on maintaining a
similarly illegal position in the same City of Melbourne , with certain of its newly-warranted preceptories . In India the Craft has been able to pursue the even tenour of its way with credit to itself and the Fraternity at large , nor have we much else to record than that the lodges and Charitable Associations in the several Presidencies or District G . Lodges have strengthened or maintained their position . A few changes have taken
place . Comp . E . Woodall Parker has been installed Superintendent of R . A . Masonry in the Punjab , and in the month of November Bro . Lord Connemara , Governor of Madras , was installed Dist . G . Master of that Presidency . Elsewhere we note that Bro . Sir H . A . Atkinson , K . C . M . G ,, was installed Dist . G . Master of Wellington ( N . Z . ) , Bro . Col . Marmaduke Ramsay , District Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of Malta ,
and Bro . George J . Ryan , M . D , Dist . G . M . of the Argentine Republic , vice Bro . Rich . D . Masefield , deceased , while on the resignation of Bro . John Williame as Dist . G . M . of New South Wales , Bro . Lord Carrington , Past S . G . Warden , was appointed his successor . But the occurrences which are fraught with the greatest importance to the Craft are those which have taken place in the vast and wealthy colonies of New South Wales and
Victoria . Among the brethren of these districts there had prevailed for some time past a most lamentable state of disunion , but in the course of his recent visit to Australasia , Bro . the Earl of Carnarvon , Pro G . Master , made it his special business to inquire into the reasons of this untoward state , and if possible furnish a remedy for it . His efforts happily proved successful , and during the present summer the principal members of the
disunited Craft in New South Wales held several consultations together , the result being the establishment of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales , which was formally constituted at Sydney on the 18 th August , and of which Bro . Lord Carrington , Governor-General of the Colony , and a P . S . G . W . of England , was installed M . W . G . Master , in the presence of over 4000 brethren assembled in one of the most capacious of the public buildings in Sydney , on the 18 th September . The Prince of
Wales has since accepted the office of Grand Patron , the new G . Lodge having been first recognised by our G . Lodge on his Royal Highness ' s recommendation , and , as there are over 180 lodges already on its roll , there is every chance of its enjoying a prosperous future . Similar steps have been taken by the members of the English , Irish , Scotch , and Victorian Constitutions , with a view to establishing a United Grand Lodge of Victoria , which , if constituted , will start on its career with some 150 lodges on its roll , and in all probability with Bro . Sir W . J . Clarke , Bart ., who is
Freemasonry In 1888.
already chief of the District and Provincial Grand Lodges of England , Scotland , and Ireland , as its first Grand Master . It would be ridiculous to regard these changes as involving any loss of strength or prestige to the Grand Lodges ol the United Kingdom , and it only remains for us to repeat the kind wishes for their future wellbeing which we have before expressed . The old tie of Brotherhood
will remain , though the governments will no longer be the same . We will add that the Grand Lodge of South Australia , of which the Prince of Wales is G . Patron , has prospered greatly under the auspices of Bro . Chief Justice Way , who , by the way , had the honour of installing Bro . Lord Carrington as Grand Master of New South Wales , and that its Grand Chapter has been formally recognised by us . As for the Grand Lodges
in the Dominion of Canada , that of Canada for the Province of Ontario is in an extremely flourishing condition , and has on its roll some 19 , 000 members , the Grand Master for the current year being Bro . R . T . VValkem , while its G . Chapter , of which Comp . R . B . Hungerford is G . Z ., has also made considerable progress . The other Grand
Lodgesthose of Quebec , Nova Scotia , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island , Manitoba , and British Columbia—have also fared well , all having maintained , while some have improved , their position , as compared with what it was in 1887 . To them , also , we offer our congratulations on the past , as well as our sincerest wishes for their future prosperity .
J URISDICTIONS ABROAD . The most untoward events which have happened outside the Fraternity in the British Empire are undoubtedly the deaths , within about three months of each other , of the Emperors William and Frederick of Germany , who had both of them been members of our Society for many years , the elder of the two having been initiated in Berlin in 1840 , and the younger in 1853 .
Both these illustrious personages took a deep interest in the welfare of Freemasonry , not alone as official protectors of the Craft in Germany , but also because they truly and sincerel y believed in the beneficial influence it is calculated to exercise on mankind at large . We have already referred to the addresses of sympathy which our own illustrious Grand Master transmitted , as the official head of English Masonry , to the sorrowing relatives of
these august monarchs , and we are confident those expressions of our regret will have been fully appreciated by the various G . Lodges in Germany . What effect these losses may have on the future of German Freemasonry cannot be judged at present . The reigning Emperor William II . is not a Freemason , and it has pleased the anti-Masonic portion of the German press to assert , without as far as we have been able to ascertain the slightest warranty for the faith that is in them , that henceforth the Craft in the German
Fatherland will be held in disrepute in Court and official circles , which , as society is there constituted , means that it will be virtually deprived of its opportunities of exercising any influence whatever . We do not share in this belief , firstly , because it has found expression only in that portion of the press which has always shown itself antagonistic to Freemasonry ; and , secondly , because there is no sufficient reason why William II . should go out of his way to injure a Society which had enjoyed the confidence ot both his aged grandfather and father successively for the greater part of half a century .
As regards Freemasonry in other jurisdictions , tnough there is scarcely a State in the world which is not directly or indirectly indebted to this country for what knowledge of our principles and what of Craft organisation it possesses , we shall no doubt be forgiven if the greater share of our interest is diiected towards the Grand Lodges in the United States , which , as they once formed part of the British Empire , were also included in our
British system of Freemasonry . The oldest and most influential among the Grand Lodges of the United States were formerly among our Provincial lodges , and a continuance of their prosperity is almost as much an object of solicitude with us as is that of our otvn . At all events , we look with interest to what is passing among the Fraternity in New York , Pennsylvania , Massachusetts , Vermont , Maryland , and the other States and
territories which acknowledge the Stars and Stripes just in the same way as they look to what is passing here . We endeavour to cultivate their good opinion as they do ours , and both we and they are always prepared to welcome whatever is likely to draw closer and make firmer the bonds of fraternal respect and friendship which actuate the members of the two great sections of Anglo-Saxon Masonry . If proof positive of this is needed , we
had it in 1887 , when many distinguished United States brethren came over to this country and were heartily greeted by our lodges and members , while during the current year we have had , as it were , the counterpart of the picture in the kind reception experienced by the Anglo-American Lodge Deputation in Philadelphia , Baltimore , and New York , and wherever else they visited . These are among the latest instances of
the friendly interchanges which are continually passing between the brethren on the opposite shores of the Atlantic , and we regret that owing to time and space at our disposal we are unable to say more of the relations existing between them , or give anything like a worthy narrative ot Craft proceedings in America . But though we are compelled to deny our readers the pleasure of attempting any such record , we should but ill discharge
our duty as the representative organ of British Masonic opinion if we did not conclude this brief reference to our United States brethren by expressing our sincerest wishes both for their increased prosperity and for the continuance through all time of those friendly relations and that warm respect which have always prevailed between us and them . May peace and harmony for ever reign between the brethren ot the United States and the United Kingdom !
KNIGHT . —It is very difficult to lay down any proper derivation of Ihis word , though some have contended that it comes from the Anglo-Saxon Cneht or Cnecht . It seems , however , very doubtful , as the German word Ritter , originally Reiter , preserves the older idea of Eques and Chivaler , Chevalier . We need not go through the details of the creation or uses of the knightly order or of the system ot knightnood in itself , as such lucubra « tions seem almost out of place in a Masonic Cyclopaedia , and there is no
difficulty in finding the whole tacts of the case clearly set forth in more than one masterly treatise on the subject . Without , then , entering on tnis wide and important subject , it will suffice to say that there were two kinds of knights principally—the Knight Bachelor and the Knight Banneret . In former days the honour ot kni ghthood was conlerred by the sovereign or some military commander on the field of battle , and sometimes under the banners . —Kenning ' s Cyclopcedia of Freemasonry ,
BERKELEY HOTEL ( late St . James ' s ) , 1 , Berkeley-street and 77 , Picca « dilly , London , W . First class accommodation for residents , with a Resta irant newly * Attached for high class luncheons and dinners , at fixed pcias and a la 1 cartes C . DIETTE , Manager . — - [ ADVT . ] '